President promises not to sign anti-church bill

On September 7, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, in his address to the Verkhovna Rada deputies, said that he would not sign the bill, according to which the candidatures of bishops should be agreed with the state bodies.

This is bill No. 4511.

"Separately, I want to emphasize that I will not sign the bill that proposes to agree on the candidatures of bishops and priests by state bodies," the President said. "It's not a matter of the state. Other legislative initiatives I am ready to be discussed."

In his address, Poroshenko said that "the Ukrainian state is separated from the Church", but "Ukraine has the right to the Local Church", and said that he personally wrote a message to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew about this.

Also, the President's speech did not touch upon bills No. 4128 and No. 5309 directed against the UOC.